Great to be at the game after seeing that funny light in the sky yesterday morning. It was the bloody sun; I had forgotten what it looked like and was expecting a wet match.
Had bought a cheap ticket since my rich brother in law was overseas and nobody knew where his Platinum member tickets were but I moved myself around the stadium before the game and ended up near the cheap private boxes. Was chatting to a bloke over the barrier and got some nice beer batter fish and chips and brewed coffee handed over from his box.
Er, the game?
Some impressions were:
• Australia's lack of depth, already noted midweek on the 2010 EOYT, as if we didn't know about it before then, was confirmed last week by the dirt-trackers against Samoa. It was evident again last night when the Oz bench couldn't lift their team as much as the Bok reserves lifted theirs.
• Before the game they showed highlights of the 2010 Bloem test on the big screen, After being 33 points ahead I got a bit nervous that a similar big lead would be whittled down again. You would take a win by 19 points against the Boks every day of the week, but once again in a 3N match the Wallabies faded.
• The early Oz lead made the Boks chuck out their game plan and they contributed to an entertaining game. What was noticeable was a lack of interest of both teams to take it up the middle as there didn't seem to be a lot of pick and goes. Oz will be better served in the next game to earn the right to go wide.
• Some of the Oz passing was manic: as if they had to score a try to win and the siren had gone, every time. The backs should work on recycling in the next couple of weeks and scrap the miracle passes - not that some forwards, such as Alexander, were entirely innocent on the matter.
• Goal line defence of the Wallabies was a highlight in some games last year but was not flash last night as the Boks scored two quick goal line tries in two attempts. Maul defence was poor and the boys didn't seem to know that if they all chose to unbind and leave the maul, the maul laws still applied, even if the Boks were rumbling ahead by themselves.
• The scrum was good. Last week Alexander showed some improvement – oddly, by standing up sometimes. This indicated that his feet were in a better place not to hinge down all the time. Last night he did well against Greyling, who I rate as a scrummager, and Kepu had no trouble against Kruger as was expected. Kepu has returned to his Tahs pre-injury form in all areas and is showing a rare attribute: being able to scrummage at LHP and THP at the highest level with equal facility.
• The midfield of McCabe and AAC (Adam Ashley-Cooper) was a nice counterpoint to some of the manic game breaking efforts of the other backs.
• What you don't realise on TV is how influential Quade is. Although he created 3 of the tries he didn't have his best game because some of his kicks and passes were ropey. But he has that X-factor quality that makes opponents pause and watch him, which gives his outsides and insides a few steps on defenders.
• Not much joy for the Boks. Morné Steyn was poor, Pienaar not much better, Aplon, whilst brilliant on attack was weak on defence, and Olivier made McCabe look like Horan.. Was disappointed in Johnson, Kruger had an unhappy debut and Smit would not have stopped criticism at home.
All that and losing by only 19 points was more a function of some poor Oz kicking and handling plus a lack of patience, but the Bok comeback from 33 points down had a lot of merit. Hargreaves doesn't look like a Springbok but Rossouw does, and from the bench Deysel earned his pay and Lambie looked much better than Steyn.
• The anthems were highlights of the night the young Oz girls and lead singer were super, and the SA choir was brilliant.
